WE'RE SUPPORTING

This photo from Rhode Island photographer Diana Brennan has made my day. The delicate beauty she captures, which is so tender and still, is a nice thing to pontificate over a rich coffee and a sense of quiet introspection. ‘Brennan shoots mainly with a digital SLR camera, but also enjoys using vintage film cameras and experimenting with different techniques. She believes that the essence of a scene is often captured best by photographing the details. Her work evokes her love of natural New England, her awareness of the environment, and her passion to create’.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Yes it may be cliched to acknowledge it, but having lived for some time now down the barrel of the loaded gun that is New York, it really is difficult to be cynical — as the folk laureate Rufus Wainwright is — about this city. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

Ben Lee upped the label a while back, but Band of Outsiders is still probably the best label you’ve never heard of. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Palpably somber, the beautiful work of Californian illustrator Jorge Mascarenas really lends the viewer a tangible means through which to wallow in quiet melancholy. Read more

WE'RE READING

This one-stop shop for all things eco-friendly is proof that protecting the environment is becoming a popular pastime. Almost every material category that comprises our society, from design to celebrity to transport, is looked at through a green lens. They’re ranked number twenty-two on Technorati’s list of 75,000,000 blogs, and even Daryl Hannah is singing their praises. Why? Its writers, they claim, ‘have the ability to take topics that most of us snoozed our way through in school, and make them the addictive juicy, green bits that they are’.

Says Van She bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie about the Bush Tetras track — Too Many Creeps — from 1982: ‘I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands of all time, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!!’

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Metronomy are a cool little London-based group headed by producer and remix extraordinaire, Joseph Mount. The sound sits somewhere between Autechre and Vitalic: clanging keyboards and body-gurning beats laced with an undercurrent of ominous electronica. It’s not as inaccessible as much of the more twisted electro-based stuff out there at the moment, although it retains an edge perhaps unpalatable for some ears. Yet there’s a catchiness to it that is clearly roping in the crowds: their live shows are a spectacle, complete with synchronised dancing and flashing costumes. If that floats your boat, they’re playing for free at the Tate Britain, London, on 27 September.